PAP to Hold New Elections

Following Calls for President's Resignation

Reports from the Secretariat of the Pan African Parliament has it that the parliament will this Thursday 28th May 2009 hold new elections to elect a new bureau that will steer the affairs of the parliament.

This follows calls by members of the Pan African Parliament for the current bureau comprising of the President Dr. Getrude I. Mongella and four vice presidents to tender their resignations for what they described as a 'lack of confidence' in the administration.

The resignation of Madam Mongella, 65, and the entire bureau has been at the centre of the debate in the ongoing 11th Ordinary Session of the Pan African Parliament, which started in Midrand, Johannesburg, South Africa since Monday 18th May 2009.

It comes in the wake of a decision by the African Union in its 12th Ordinary Session held in Addis Ababa early this year requesting that the Pan African Parliament amend its rules of Procedure to conform with the legal instruments of the Union and also for the Parliament to urgently fix a term limit for its bureau and to immediately hold new elections to renew the mandate of the current bureau or elect a new one.

Members of the Pan African Parliament have described this decision by the African Union as a clear indication that the Union has lost confidence in the current bureau and thus calls for their immediate resignation.

The election of the new bureau according to the rules of procedures of the parliament, should be chaired by the chairperson of the African Union, Col. Momar Ghadafi, President of Libya, or anyone delegated by him.